Monday, January 28, 2013

Weekly Meal Plan and Recipes + Printable Shopping List #5

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. We had a birthday party for my little Miss. It was a fun day, spent with all our friends and family. I also got some canning done and quite a bit of cooking. I have a new hot dog bun recipe, homemade potato chips, and
some other goodies I will be posting. Lots of yummy goodness going on
this week. Be on the look out for it.

I am also working on some posts about canning and how to do it. It may take me a few weeks to get all the pictures and stuff together, but it is in the works. I have another new series in the works as well......I have been working on it for like a month, but I am moving at a snails pace:). It is called "Reader's Corner" If you have a thrifty living question, let me know and I will answer it in "Readers Corner". You can send me an email here or at blissful_and_domestic@yahoo.com

Now onto the my shopping loot this week.....
This week I received one conventional basket and 8lbs of strawberries. I purchased the extra strawberries, since I plan on making my own jam this week. We are no longer buying store bought jam (we are saying no to high-fructose corn-syrup. That stuff is in everything). Plus homemade is always better right?!Bountiful Baskets
1 conventional Basket- $16.50
8 lbs strawberries - $14
Total spent this week - $30.50

Total This Month: $376.64
* I love showing the breakdown of each week. It keeps me accountable and
also I hope it is showing you that budgeting will save you money. You
can eat healthy, delicious meals and still live within your budget. This
is the biggest key to saving money. Set a budget and stick to it.

If you are new to meal planning, start HERE.
I have great tips for just starting out with meal planning.

In a bowl, marinate the chicken breasts in the terriyaki and soy sauces for at least 30 minutes in the fridge. In a skillet, saute the chicken with the marinade for 6 to 8 minutes on each side, or until no longer pink in the middle. The cooking time will vary depending on the thickness of your chicken. Slice the cooked chicken into 1/2 inch strips.

Julienne or shred the carrot sticks and chop the lettuce.

Rinse the snow peas and pat dry. Place them in a saucepan with about 1/2 inch of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 1 to 2 minutes. Serve the steamed snow peas with a pinch of salt and pepper.

I put all the wet ingredients in first and then mixed
them in my Kitchen Aide Mixer.I then added the dry ingredients
and mixed again.

Pour them onto a hot griddle and cook.

Pizza
Crust

3
cups all-purpose flour

1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)

2
tablespoons vegetable oil

1
teaspoon salt

1
tablespoon white sugar

1
cup warm water

4 tbl Italian Seasonings

Put all ingredients in your mixer
and mix until a soft dough ball forms.If your dough is too
sticky add a bit more flour.

Put your mixer on level 2 and
let your dough knead for 5 minutes.While the mixer is doing
its magic I get out my toppings. I sometimes use store bought sauce
and sometimes I make it. Depends on my mood.

We love a supreme
pizza. So I brown a pound of sausage and only use part.I save the
rest for other pizza nights. Cooked meat freezes great! Quick to
thaw too. Just run under warm water. Defrost in just a few
minutes. Roll your dough out onto your pizza pan. I use a
round pan with holes on the bottom.

* You can use canned beans, but
I like to make them myself. It is SO.MUCH.CHEAPER and super easy! You
can see how to cook dry beans in your crock-pot
here and in a
pressure cooker here. If you do use caned beans make sure you
drain them.

I didn't have any beans already cooked in my
fridge or freezer, so I had to cook mine in the pressure cooker
first. I cooked 1 cup of kidney beans + 1 cup of black beans, with 5
cups of water, for 25 minutes. Allow them to cool down on their own.
Then use them in this recipe.

** We use nutritional yeast as
a substitute for cheese and sour cream in many recipes now. It's rich
in B vitamins and taste yummy!. I buy ours in bulk from Winco or
Whole Foods. Perfect for popcorn, veggies, and all your favorite
recipes.

*** Wheat
berries are wheat before it is ground. We cook it in our pressure
cooker and then store it in the fridge. We eat it for breakfast with
milk and fruit. I also add it to all sorts of recipes as an extra
source of protein. It is a super grain!

Keep an eye out for "specialty" bags of frozen veggies, like snow peas and sugar snap peas, to go on sale. Store in your freezer for 6-12 months.

You can print this weeks menu plan +
the shopping list and all the recipes HERE

sounds delish girlie!! i gotta get back to posting my menu mondays - it's the only way i make sure to menu plan! i was wondering if u could give me the name of those dvd's u get at the library where there are multiple endings and you can choose one. we've been having wednesday before church as our library day. thanks!!

also the nutritional yeast - where would u find that? is it refrigerated or with the packeted yeast? does it taste the same? i'm all for substituting better things that taste the same. for example lil dude did not like my homemade sloppy joe mix so i researched manwich and its actually not too bad, they put in sneaky vegetables, lol! so i use it now instead.

I love bountiful baskets! I was so sad when the pick-up close to my house was changed. The nearest site to me is about a half hour away. I love your blog my dear! I will definitely be following you on bloglovin. xx. McKenna Louwww.lynnandlou.blogspot.com